#i mean i get it man i do. and butcher is an interesting character and all. but goddamn dude

[pipivovott]

the boys s4 finale spoilers

ryan did nothing wrong tbh. he's been lied to and isolated his whole life. how else was he supposed to react when mallory and butcher not only dumped all of his father's wrongdoings on him, but actively tricked him with the intent of keeping him captive? and even then not JUST keeping him captive but forcing him into being a weapon against his own father? sure mallory/butcher were desperate for any means to take down homelander but it was super fucked up to put ryan in that position. homelander is the only living family that ryan has, and regardless of homelander's status as a shitty person it's clear that he cares for ryan in his own way

[the-music-maniac]

I get a little annoyed when people's complaints about zosan stray into the "Sanji would never fall for Zoro because of personal hygiene issues" territory. Mostly because I feel like it involves a fundamental misunderstanding about their dynamic and also Sanji as a character.

First of all, Sanji smokes cigarettes and cooks seafood and shit. Even if he does shower daily, there is no way he smells like a rose garden. So there's that.

Second of all, Sanji is a COOK. You literally cannot be a cook if you're afraid of getting your hands dirty, if you're afraid of working up a sweat. He knows the value of hard work in that regard. For his craft, Sanji gets all up in some fish guts, he hunts, he cleans, de-feathers, skins, butchers whatever creature they've managed to hunt - come on y'all. That is not a man that would be a germaphobe. He keeps his workspace and himself clean cause that's the mark of a good cook, but the man would have no qualms about getting dirty. He ain't squeamish.

Third, Sanji's entire thing is that he ACTS like a refined gentleman, but he's a little bit batshit crazy in the same way all the strawhats are. He's one of the monster trio for a reason! They're all freaking unhinged, Sanji's first reaction to seeing sea monsters is to yell that he wants to cook it. He's fought so many battles, I've no doubt that there's blood soaked into the soles of his fancy loafers, caked into some of the hems of his suit pants. My point being that while him acting like he's a gentleman with "refined tastes" is no means deception (he probably has excellent taste when it comes to dining) he also doesn't fit that description entirely. He strives for it, in order to maintain an image, and it also plays into his whole "ladies man" thing as well. But he's not actually a refined gentleman in our traditional interpretation of the word. He's down to slum it if needed, and will kick a person's ass for not finishing a soup that has a bug in it because it would mean wasting food. Also the man has worn orange crocs. Refined my ass.

Fourth, you can deny it all you want, but Zoro and Sanji have always been and will likely always be, two people that match each other's freak. And by that I mean that all it takes is Zoro muttering one little disparaging comment, and Sanji is immediately there, ready to throw down, dirt and sweat be damned. If he were to complain about Zoro's supposed bathing habits and shit, while I don't doubt some of it would be genuine complaint, it probably would mostly be because it would annoy Zoro. But when it comes down to stuff Sanji actually gives a shit about, hygiene would probably not be high up on that list. He is 100% that motherfucker that would get heart eyes over Zoro eating sugar onigiri out of the mud to spare a little girl's feelings.

I get annoyed by people using that argument as if it's a legitimate reasoning for why Zoro and Sanji wouldn't get together. Like what impression of Sanji do you have in your head? You think the dude that constantly knocks foreheads with Zoro during their antagonistic (gay) posturing would get squeamish about Zoro being a little sweaty? Sanji can be your babygirl if you want, but we gotta stop acting like he's the type to get squeamish over stuff like that - there's no way that out of ALL the issues Sanji has yet to work through locked up in that pretty noggin of his, that personal hygiene would be the hold up on a relationship between these two. The zosan dynamic is Sanji complains loudly about Zoro being a disgusting brute and then will turn around and roundhouse kick a man's head off. Like yes, Sanji. That's not the pot calling the kettle black at all.

None of this is a complaint btw. That's literally my favourite part about Sanji, and Zosan as a whole. Sanji wouldn't be nearly as interesting if he was just a gentleman. Zosan wouldn't be as compelling if they weren't two lil peas in a pod, equally as unhinged. The only difference is Zoro puts literally no effort into trying to hide his level of derangement. Which is also very in character for him, btw.

[melrosing]

so stuff I’ve not liked about the finale and S2 more generally…. unfortunately it’s a lot and i'm thinking i might need to say this in several parts but first and foremost: the pacing really was shit and i don't just mean there weren't enough action scenes i mean the whole season they've had almost nothing to say about these characters and have just been making us think they do by having them repeat the same ham-fisted monologues about power and peace and the cost of war and whatever whilst moving at a glacial pace from one minor plot point to another and by the end of it most of these characters STILL haven't changed, and where they have it feels undeserved, and yes they really are at roughly the place they started so what have they even got to show for these eight hours of TV?? like damn

and I do get that the writer's strike has really effected them here and HBO hacking two eps off their season affected them too and that really can't be helped. but the pacing has been pretty poor from kick off and I can't just put it down to this being a more 'internal' season. i do not care about big battles. it's fine to have a season of a show that’s more about the characters’ interiority rather than plot action. that’s the exact reason why I like AFFC so much.

but these characters barely have interiority like idk what to say. some like Rhaenyra, Jace and Alicent have been spouting the same monologues every episode about wanting peace/wanting agency/wanting peace again etc etc, and the more interesting moments like Alicent's apparent suicide attempts, Rhaenyra's butchering of the dragonseeds etc... I mean where IS the interiority here?? unless they are spelling out a character's thoughts in the most literal way they can (as per Jace's diatribes about the dragonseeds), they leave their audience to do absolutely all the work by showing us nothing, and just leaving us to figure that the characters must be having some kind of thoughts but y'all can decide what they are.

and even Daemon, whose entire ARC was about his interiority.... like look I was so so ready to love this arc. i love fucked up little dream sequences. i love harrenhal. i was really enjoying the angle they took with alys. i was here for it. but now we've seen the whole of his S2 arc, im going to say yes, it was intended as a redemption adjacent kind of arc, and it isn't a very good one. Daemon has a handful of weird dreams, gets shouted at by some Riverlands folk, and he's a changed man.

consider the character everyone compares Daemon to (and who I'm always more than happy to talk about) and that's Jaime. and look at the sheer ground covered in ASOS: Jaime breaks out of a dungeon, Jaime meets a younger version of himself, Jaime gets his hand hacked off, Jaime reveals his anime villain backstory in the bath, Jaime deals with Roose Bolton, Jaime has a weird weirwood dream, Jaime fights a fucking bear - and at this point we're still only about halfway through.

now in contrast, what have they actually managed to do with Daemon this season. where has that finale moment with Rhaenyra been earned. this is not slow pacing for the sake of powerful character development, it's slow because they don't have anything else to say.

and also look at the state of characters like Aemond who seemed really promising in S1, yet in this season he barely reflects on the fact that he hadn't meant to kill Luke, and this war is an accident that he started, etc etc - he's just a killing machine lol. there were some nice touches in there, like i say i enjoyed Helaena telling Aemond how he'll die in the finale. but I no longer trust these writers to do anything with their more inspired ideas because they just consistently fail to do so.

look at Baela!!! like my god, has Baela had the opportunity to do anything except A) what she's told and B) counsel men on their feelings. she has like one moment looking at Daemon and you feel like the series is going to explore how complex it is to be Daemon Targaryen's daughter.... but my god they never do!! so where IS this interiority we've spent eight episodes on! what have they got to show for it!!

and i talked more weeks back about how frustrating i've found the writing of women more generally in this series and as of the finale I am finding it so egregious and so condescending. women want peace. women want to protect their children. women are tired of men. women are tired of war. women are trying to end this war peacefully. women are pacifists. women hate violence. and so on and so on and so on like jesus christ who am i even talking about here. even i don't know. it's so boring. it's so dry. and it requires female characters to always be the paragons of virtue, never do anything truly condemnable, never be unlikeable, never fucking anything except stand around saying how much they hate this. im bored of it and it makes me angry that they would do this in a series that specifically seeks to make everyone grey and everyone complex - they keep suggesting that might extend to the women before abruptly shutting it down again. see Alicent and Rhaenyra even STILL, after EVERYTHING, trying to peacefully shut down the war for the sake of love and friendship in the goddamn finale. I don't believe it anymore!! it's not cute! it's just dull!!!

and finally that just kind of brings me to how shortsighted a lot of the plot developments seem, when you see how the characters fail to reckon with their pasts or shit that just happened. Rhaenyra and Mysaria make out, and then that's never mentioned again and the tone never changes between them. Rhaenyra is done thinking about Luke. Helaena is done thinking about Jaehaerys. Aegon actually didn't mention Jaehaerys in the list of things he's 'lost' in that finale. Alicent's relationship w Viserys was just now condensed to 'we were fond of each other but he always liked your mum better'

like idk it's just. if this season's pacing is all about giving characters the chance to change and grow into the people they'll be when this war REALLY kicks off.... do it. write it. do not just write the same monologue a dozen times and hope it'll hit harder with each. doesn't work like that. sorry.

[angel-maybe-alive]

Old fairytale and Greek myths be like: don't go to the dark forest alone you will be eaten and I will use eaten here because I can't tell little kids what are the actual horrors that can happen to you, don't judge people by their appearance, don't be vain, be nice to people, sometimes your stepmother will try to kill you, marriage is a inevitability, gods are just like anyone with power volatile don't fuck with them, faes ate not your friends, getting revenge on those who hurt you is actually the right thing to do however hurting people for no reason is not a good thing.

The girlboss/feminist/Female rage/ booktok retellings: yeah kidnaping is actually okay if the kidnaper is hot, man can be vain and arrogant if they are hot, actually the only people who shouldn't be vain is other women because women who actually care about their appearances are whores and bitches the opposite of my self insert badass protagonist who is the most beautiful of them all but also acts like she is ugly to be relatable, there are gods that are little baby angels and bitch gods and I will ignore any myth that portray my baby god as evil, speaking of ignoring myths do you like faes because I will butcher faeric myths so much it will make twilight vampires accurate, also there are no hot evil people hot+evil = morally grey, also being gentle, generous or just nice is being weak my protagonist has to be a dick with everyone because this means she is actually cool and badass actually the more a character is a dick the coolest they are, an older woman will still try to kill you but it's not your stepmother anymore just the older ex of the love interest because the author will recognize how abusive is the relationship with a power and age gap only when the victims is a man, also demeter is a cunt

[writeroutoftime]

i can’t get the idea of carmy x butcher reader out of my mind for some reason

words: 0.7k

warnings: none, I mean carmy's a bit of jerk for a minute, but what's new lol

a/n: honestly, I love this idea, anon so here's a little blurb! not sure if I went in the direction you were anticipating, but I really enjoyed writing this! (also, this is my first time writing for carmy so please forgive me while I'm learning his character!)

p.s. I would totally be opening to write more little blurbs for this specific pairing if anyone is interested!

oOoOo

It took four blocks to walk from The Beef to the butcher Mikey had used for the past few years. Six blocks for Carmen's fists to repeatedly clench and unclench and for his jaw to tightened as he stormed down the street, not caring who got in his way.

When he reached the butchers, Carmen threw the door open. The bell attached nearly flew off in protest, immediately catching your attention.

"How can I help?" you asked, dusting off your hands to give your newest customer your full attention. Though, by his heavy breaths, you mentally prepared yourself for the difficult conversation you expected to follow.

"You can start by getting your fucking orders right for delivery. This is the second time in a month that your shop dropped the ball and it's impacting my kitchen." he all but shouted, jabbing an accusatory finger in your direction.

Your hands gripped the counter, subtly, as you forced yourself to take a deep breath. It was early in the morning. You weren't exactly keen to start your day by dealing with angry customers - even if his intense, blue eyes were rather attractive.

"Okay," you spoke slowly. "What's the name on the order? We can figure this out."

Unfortunately, this did little to placate the seething man. "The name is Berzatto for The Beef. And I don't want to work anything out, I just want you to deliver the orders you're fucking supposed to. We need twenty pounds of meat, and you only delivered two. What good does two pounds do me?"

By that point, your own jaw clicked as you turned to look through your files. You recognized the name Berzatto and deep down you knew the delivery was correct on your end. After years of shadowing your family before taking over, you knew how to run this business.

Rather aggressively, you pulled out the order sheet and slammed it down on the counter in front of Berzatto. He snatched the sheet, eyes quickly scanning the text. You saw the moment his face fell, and couldn't help but feel rather smug.

"Do you wanna walk outside, come back in, and try again?" you asked, crossing your arms over your chest, eyes narrowed.

A few moments of silence and Berzatto finally looked back up at you, his chest heaving as he came down from his rush of adrenaline. "I," he began, then quickly shut his mouth, and turned from the counter running his hand down his face in frustration.

"Okay, how can I order the rest of the meat to be delivered, ASAP?" he asked suddenly, turning around and running a hand through his already mussed hair only to end up on the back of his neck as he looked at you.

It wasn't an apology, but his tone was noticeably calmer. You figured that would be the closest you'd get for a while. One glance at him and you could tell he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. The name Berzatto rung a bell in your mind, and you remembered hearing there was a new owner after the previous one passed away.

With a soft sigh, you grabbed a pen and pad of paper and began to write down his order. "What's the name for the order?"

"Uh, Carm-Carmen Berzatto." he stuttered out, taken aback by your suddenly soft demeanor.

"Alright, Carmen. Here's what we're going to do. I can get you the rest of your order by this evening, and payment can be due at the end of this month. That sound okay to you?" you questioned, holding out the order slip.

Carmen reached out to grab the paper, slightly brushing his fingers against yours. Both of you pulled back quickly ignoring any sort of spark you might have felt.

He looked down at the slip, back up to you, and nodded in agreement. With a tightlipped smile, Carmen nodded his thanks and moved to leave your shop and head back to the Beef.

"And Berzatto?" you called out, quietly laughing at the way he stumbled over his feet in the doorway to turn back. "Next time try the civil approach first." you teased, leaving Carmen a blushing mess.

[1800-page-not-found]

hello author (＾▽＾)

can I ask you to write vampire reader x human Yjh and Kdj relationship hc i thing it's would be interesting

HI!! THIS IS SUCH A CUTE RELATIONSHIP!

btw this is going to be a healthy relationship, im not a huge fan of writing toxic/abusive relationships ykyk

HELP I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU SAID HC AND IM ALREADY 3/4 IN WRITING EVERYTHING...ITS OK ILL JUST DO BOTH LMFAO

human yoo joonghyuk, kim dokja (separate) x vampire reader

summary: the awful sun...it burns! thus, your lover decides to (somehow) give you a coat that has sun resistance so you can finally step out.

Yoo Joonghyuk is a ruthless man. However, during his regressions, he came to find you, a vampire. And what was so interesting about you is that, you were a vampire before the apocalypse. At first he brought you along only because he found you useful. But then, when he was able to clear more and more scenarios with you, he started to develop these 'strange feelings' he calls them.

Being a vampire was a struggle for you. After all, there were so many people around you, it was hard to resist. you usually drank animal blood from the nearby butcher, but when the apocalypse hit, you lost your supply. But when you met him, Yoo Joonghyuk, everything changed.

Blood is like wine. The more it ages, the better it tastes. So, as a regressor, Yoo Joonghyuk's blood was amazing. Of course, he killed you the first few times he met you, but started warming up.

Now, as the relationship developed, and when you two started dating after, what, 7 regressions? Well, he realized it was hard for you to join him completing scenarios with your weakness of the sun.

He scoffed, "weak." he muttered under his breath as he turned away from you.

His actions were very different though. A week later, he brought a coat that looked almost identical to his, except in a beige color, and with different attributes. Yours made you gain sun resistance.

You cried when you stepped out in the sun, feeling warmth from the fiery ball for the first time. You hugged him dearly, thanking him over and over again.

Yoo Joonghyuk was shocked to say the least. As a man who's unfamiliar with such emotions, he awkwardly patted your back. He never realized how much this meant to you. After all, vampires have feelings to.

headcannons here

he definitely gets the coat first thing when he regresses

since the scent of blood is so strong to you, he will use his coat to wrap you up and calm you down

Where SP exists, YJH definitely gets jealous whenever SP gifts something to you at the exact time you need it.

ur blood bag, he volunteers

every time he regresses, its really weird

like just imagine some super over powered hot guy comes to you and says like-

"Let me be your blood bag i love you" or something LMAOOOO

Nah he wouldn't do that (he probably might)

It would be really awkward though because he'd try to like move the relationship really fast cuz he just wants to date you and hold hands and other lovey-dovey stuff

he's awkward in general

definitely has killed before to give you blood

brought back a bucket of blood once

you didn't drink it because like STDs yk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kim Dokja was like a child asking Santa Claus questions about Christmas when he first met you (pre apocalypse btw). I mean, you're just like the characters in his favorite novel!

It was an accident when he found out. I mean its not normal seeing your co-worker drink animal blood and eat raw animal meat is it? And i mean... it was pretty odd everyday when you came to work all bundled up.

When the apocalypse hit, the two of you were both on the train/subway. You were breathing heavily, trying to control yourself. He gave his coat to you and put it on top of your head, blocking your vision. Few minuets later, he gave you a grasshopper to kill.

Later on, after he became 'Demon King of Salvation,' he met 'Mass Production Maker' at the Gourmet Association when they were viewing the scenario and talking.

(I cant remember all they way how Mass Production Maker acts fyi)

"Mass Production Maker sir, I'd like to ask for a favor." It was rare for someone like the Demon King of Salvation to ask for a favor, well unless it was you. "Oh? And what may someone like you ask for from an old man like me?" Mass Production Maker did not take his eyes off the scenario, but you could tell he was listening to the rather newly born constellation.

"There's someone very dear to me who needs a rather special coat...I know you don't really do commissions but-" The Mass Production Maker laughed an old hearty laugh. "My, my, what young love folks like you have! How enjoyable! I like you young man, make sure to stay loyal, I'll do it for free as you helped me earn so many coins from the bet!" (I think that's what happened if I remember correctly?)

-----

when you two finally met again, Kim Dokja wrapped you in a lovely beige coat, just like his. "What is this?" you asked curiously. "A coat for you to step out in the sun!" You gasped. "R-really?! I can finally go outside?.."

He nodded and dragged you right next to where the shadows met the sun. You stopped, nervous to if this would work or not. Kim Dokja turned around and held your face. "Hey..It's going to work, I promise." He assured you.

[The constellation, "Demonic Judge of Fire" squeals in happiness.]

[500 coins have been sponsored]

"Alright then..." You slowly stepped out in the sun, eyes shut as you waited to burn but-you didn't? You slowly opened your eyes, your senses feeling the warmth on your face. "I'm-I'm in the SUN!" You jumped and hugged Kim Dokja. "Thank you Thank you!" You cried, tears running down your face. You could finally feel the warmth you longed for with him under the sun.

Headcannons!!!!!

Likes to give you blood

wants you to just drink all of his blood, i mean its not like he can't revive

Flabbergasted when you cried when he was dead for 3 days

He likes to hug you because you're always cold (cuz ur a vampire...ykyk)

Had a HUGEEEEEEE cultural (or vampire) shock when you didn't bite his neck but his hand instead

and the silver thing

and garlic

becomes a huge vampire nerd

will correct people when they say something wrong about vampires

outsiders will think HE'S the vampire because of how much he talks about them

likes to be carried bridal style by you with your super strength vampire abilities

first time you two ate together at a restaurant when he knew you were a vampire, he asked for a raw slab of meat with lots of blood

the waiter looked at him weirdly

everyone in the restaurant stared at the two of you

you guys got banned from it

THE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[proxablemente]

the way the people who hate what the writers have done to alicent are being called butthurt by other fans is so funny. let's not even talk about what they've done to rhaenyra, i mean the whole point of the show has been trashed this way.

this "feminist" show has repetedly tried to make its female characters the most simpathetic they could, at the cost of butchering these characters and trash their motives, because a complex angry woman CANNOT be liked. oh and while alicent gets an "humbling" arc, blood-thirsty abusive men are getting a REDEMPTION arc! and are never expected to apologize for their crimes (like beheading a child, killing innocents, gr00ming), while alicent has to be humiliated for...being bitter and resentful??

with rhaenyra they're taking the dragon jesus lane, so i guess she might get brutal?? but who knows, they've made her so sensible all season because god forbid she actually wants war😝. women are peaceful! women cannot do war! alicent is no good for regent 'cause WOMAN 'cause EMOTIONAL. rhaenyra is always undermined at the council 'cause WOMAN 'cause REASONABLE.

the only people i'm seeing enjoying this sh1t leaked finale are rhaenicents and indifferents.

i want you to understand that just because rhaenyra and alicent are in the same room it does not mean the writing is good, making alicent oh so stupid! silly alicent keeps humiliating herself, she doesn't know better! is a disgusting character assassination. alicent has become NOTHING: they absolutley could have given her a deeper realization arc, but that was definitively not supposed to happen now nor the AWFUL way they wrote it. they made alicent AN IDIOT. she just knows how to cause herself humiliation, and if you're okay with this as long as rhaenicent happens you clearly don't give a damn about what those sh1t ass writers are doing to my girl.

the writing is BAD. oh SO BAD. it's BAD BAD BAD. please see it!! it's fanfiction level!

and rhaenicent has literally been butchered as well, since the very start of the season! i myself enjoyed rhaenicent prior to season 2, but it just sucks now. they've made alicent a little lost puppy that seeks rhaenyra's approval. last season rhaenicent for them was a memory of better times, when alicent was naive and free of the feeling of fear and remorse that haunts her, and rhaenyra was free of responsabilities and consequences, of the weight of the crown that she will one day wear: it was a pure relationship where they could just be happy with eachother, when none of their lives had been ruined. thinking about it made them nostalgic in s1's later episodes.

now rhaenyra is as stiff as a board with alicent and talks to her coldly, while alicent is mostly listening to her with puppy eyes?? this is what you like???

i am mainly an alicole (and seen the spoilers it looks like it has been butchered too so... bye bye to them too i guess) but even if criston and alicent didn't happen it wouldn't have changed much for me. i have always been interested in ALICENT THE CHARACTER first of all, not her relationship with her children or criston or rhaenyra. what pissed me off about the finale is not what she did to her children, but the fact that it was A STUPID DECISION. THE WRITING AND THE WRITING CHOICES SUCK. THEY SUCK ADMIT IT STOP DEFENDING EVERYTHING THEY CHOOSE TO DO. and it was probably made to be a stupid decision just to make alicent look even more stupid so😂whatever. i'm saying this because a lot of people on twitter are now saying "now they see you alicels as you are, you only care about her because of her relationship with her children :D" MY BROTHER IN CHRIST I DON'T I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THEM. plus these are the same people that threw tantrums and unstanned her when the alicole scenes leaked 🙃. THEY are true alicels.

people need to stop consuming material for the sole sake of shipping. if you're in it for that, at least have the decency to care about both the components of the ship separately PLEASE.

man i just hate this season, i needed to get this off my chest.

(i also tried really badly to like everything they've done up until now, so if i'm just exploding now there is a reason)

[billybangbang]

Fuck, he has a beard

Billy Butcher x reader

In this story, I made Becca Butcher's sister just because I can but also I think it would be interesting to see how he would be especially with a reader who acts like a big sister to Hughie.

Summary: Hughie is on a revenge path and Butcher is more than happy to help. He lost someone to the Supes too. His sister Becca. They came from an abusive household and after Lenny's death, Butcher gets his sister out of there too. The two moved to New York where Becca gets a job at Vought and soon after goes missing. Y/N older cousin of Hughie, wants to cheer him up with some takeout. She wants to have some dinner in the store after closing when some invisible shit decides otherwise. Entrance of some devilish handsome man named Butcher.

Y/N: She/her

Without describing the reader, I use neutral language as possible. However, some character traits:

The reader is older than Hughie

the cousin of Hughie

Due to some struggles early on in life she had a late start to Uni

She is over the normal college age but still doing her Master's

Disability struggles mentioned such as anxiety and later on going deeper into this issue and where her anxiety comes from

Slowburn and I mean SLOW.

Warnings Overall for the story: nudity, violence, sexual content, blood, gore, all the boys warnings basically. Smut in later chapters.

Non-native English speaker, and dyslexic

Prolog 

You were walking to your next class when you got the call. “Something happened to Robin.” You immediately felt your heart drop. The voice on the other side was shaky. Breathing in deeply you moved out of the mass of students trying to get to their next class. “Is - is she okay?” You watched the other students walk past you with smiles on their faces, chatting excitedly or sipping on their Chai Latte. All the while, you tried to hold it together, forcing a smile on your face even though your heart was pounding so hard you swore it would jump out of your chest any minute. “Y/N, she is dead.” Just like that, your younger cousin's girlfriend was gone. 

Today was Robin's funeral. God you hated funerals they made you so uncomfortable. Everyone was solemn and sad. But mostly, you hated to show your own feelings but whenever someone was crying you could not help but get choked up yourself. For the most part you had your hands interlocked pressed together to give you something else to focus on. Trying to breathe in slowly, easy, and steady. 

“Do you want me to come back with you, Hughie?” He just shook his head, his eyes red rimmed. He hadn’t spoken much since Robin’s death. Sometimes you wondered if he was still in shock. “I can stay with you for a couple of days,” you stepped closer, grabbing his hand. Desperately trying to make eye contact hoping to see anything but that shell shock look in them. “No, no, no, it’s fine,” he squeezed your hands before letting go and taking a step back, “I am fine.” He forced a smile and turned towards his dad who was waiting by the car. 

Chapter 1 

It had been a couple of days since you saw Hughie. You had called once but his dad picked up and told you about the settlement and how Hughie wanted to fight it. You could tell that Hughie Sr. was not happy about that and the resulting fight. Now, you were even more worried. Breathing in deeply you took your laptop and some snacks and made your way to the library. If Hughie wanted to file a wrongful death he needed all the help he could get. So for the next couple of hours you searched the internet for any kind of dirt you could find on the supes and some legal cases where family members actually filed for a wrongful death lawsuit. There weren’t many, at least in New York, where you focused on for now. From what you could tell several were dropped by the family, some dismissed by the judge and generally Vought won. In the small incidents the family did win, it was against some D-Lister Supe who did not receive support from Vought and was basically thrown to the sharks. How had you never noticed just how convoluted all this Supe stuff was? You had no idea how much help you would be for Hughie but all you could do was be there and support him. And maybe fight someone if he needed to. 

After you had researched, what felt like an eternity, yet in reality had only been two days, and compiled some stuff that made you feel like you could actually support your sweet, mild tempered cousin you packed up. It was time to see Hughie, even if he had ghosted you for the last couple of days. 

You walked downtown towards your guy's favorite Chinese Take-out place. You had picked up two portions of sweet and sour chicken, a white claw for him and some aloe vera drink for you. Hughie should get off work in the next 10 minutes. So you thought you could eat a late backroom dinner like you had done many times before. Usually you would get some food and once he closed up the shop you would eat and talk for a while in the backroom. Some days it was the best part of your day just goofing around with the lanky twink you call your cousin. 

Hughie didn’t even look up when you walked in. “We are closing soon, what can I help you with?” His tone was void of his normal happy customer voice. “I really need some forks,” for a second he looked confused. You held up the bags smiling at him. “Did someone order a backroom dinner?” He got up from his slouched position walking towards you with a smile, hugging you close to him. “God sometimes I forget how tall you are,” you reached up and tousled his hair. “Y/N what are you doing here?” “Well,” you lifted up the bags to say duh. 

“Close up for me, will ya?” Gary walked past you too. Immediately you crooked your head to the side and gave him a sweet smile. “Hi Gary.” He just grunted and walked out of the shop. “Damn one day I will make him my husband.” You joked. Hughie gave you a small chuckle for your antics, making you smile even more in return. “I’ll get the plates set up. You do whatever you do out here.” You waved him away as you made your way to the backroom. 

It had been five minutes when you heard Hughie exclaim: “What the fuck!” and a loud bang. You dropped whatever you had in your hands and ran towards the exit. Shit, shit, shit. You thought. Hughie better be giving whoever was jacking him up right now whatever they wanted. I mean it is New York, wasn’t the first time you had witnessed a mugging. But you were not prepared for what you saw when you spied through the backdoor into the shop. Hughie was lifted from the ground seemingly by nothing and flung across the room. What the fuck indeed. You pulled out your phone, only to realize that it had died. “Shit!” But in reality what would you do? Call the police? Yeah hey, so my cousin is getting attacked by air, yeah doubt that would fly. They’d just think you're some crackhead. 

You saw the TV being ripped from the wall and about to be brought down onto Hughie when somewhere in your shock you managed to grab the broom from the entrance. You ran out towards the floating TV, raising your broom, you screamed and swung. So not air, there was definitely something there. The broom shattered completely. You were just left with some splintered piece of wood in your hand. You let out a small nervous “ha” laugh, shrugging your shoulders as if to say my bad. 

“Who the fuck are you?” the invisible man replied. You took some steps back toward the back room again. What the hell are you gonna do now? “Y/N, run!” Hughie was still trying to catch his breath on the ground, struggling to get up. You were more than tempted to run but could you really leave Hughie here? Translucent lifted the TV again, and without thinking you stepped towards Hughie when suddenly a loud crash rang through the store. Jumping backwards you crouched down next to Hughie covering your head. 

A car? A fucking car just drove through the front. Jesus Christ what the hell was going on? You thought to yourself. Suddenly a tall man, with a dark beard and a large coat stepped out of the car. “Sorry about the mess.” The accent threw you off for a second but hey this is New York. Hughie and you stared in complete shock at him but he spared you guys no second glance. “You should fuck off, Hughie.” With that he stepped up to Translucent with a crowbar in hand. You just stared at him for a second before the stranger screamed. “Hughie, run!” 

Your senses kicked in again and you quickly helped your cousin up. Meanwhile in the background you could hear the Brit go. “Well, well, well, if it ain’t the invisible cunt,” before engaging in a fight with him. You put Hughies arm across your shoulder supporting him as you two made your way slowly to the back exit. But before you could leave, Hughie stopped you. The Brit was on the ground, bloody and about to be beaten with a crowbar. Before you could stop Hughie he crawled on the floor towards a cable that stuck out of the wall. “Hughie,” you hissed, “come back here.” Fuck! What an idiot. You were about to drag your cousin back by the ankles when the Brit kicked Translucent and everything went bright. You could hear the sizzling of the skin and his screams before everything went quiet with a thump. 

It took you a second to orient yourself and blink the bright spots from your vision but then you were just relieved to see Hughie standing there and the invisible shit on the ground. The Brit was already on his feet too, kicking Translucent for good measure. 

“What the hell is going on?,” you stepped up to Hughie hissing quietly to him while eyeing the Brit. Hughie couldn’t answer as the Brit spoke up. “Let’s get him in the boot.” Both you and Hughie looked at him in bewilderment. “What?” you said in unison. “Wait, wait what? Wait, what, what?” you cousin so eloquently elaborated on your what. 

The Brit, covered in blood, bent down and picked up Translucens legs, grunting as he nodded towards the car. “The trunk.” You had to give it to the stranger. He could definitely take a beating. The blood made his beard look even darker. And if it were any other circumstances you would have thought him handsome but right now was not the time to eyefuck a handsome, older stranger. 

“No,no, I mean, what are we-- , what are we - - what are we doing with him?” You had watched the exchange silently still reeling from the last 5 minutes. But it seemed like the two knew each other which was news to you. You had met all of Hughies friends, since you were older than him and since his mom left you always made sure to check in on him, protect him. Your friends used to joke that you had a grandma instinct, always pampering the younger ones. Taking Hughie and his friends out for ice cream and making Hughie hot chocolate when he had a nightmare. For a while you had lived in the Campbell household and once you had your own place you made sure to always make time for Hughie. 

Shaking your head, you took a deep breath. Get yourself together this is not a time to panic. Hughie needs you. You looked at him and all your grandmother's instinct kicked into high gear at the side of Hughies face covered in blood. Paying hardly any attention to the conversation going on around you. “Well, Hughie, you just off’d one of The Seven, mate.” “Me? I -- You-you hit him with a fucking car!” “Look, potato, fucking po-tah-to. We’re both in a shitload of trouble.” “Make that three,” you interjected. But neither of them paid you any mind you might as well have been invisible like that shit on the floor. You tried to keep up with their conversation but you felt like you had skipped the beginning of a book and were now in the middle of it with no idea what was going on. 

Wait, did he just say federal officer, FBI? What the hell was going on. You already knew once this shitty situation was over you would wring out even the smallest of detail about what the heck was going on out of Hughie. 

“Do you hear that? That’s the old bill,” you could hear the sirens clear as day and only getting louder. Shit you were so goddamn fucked. Before the Brit finished you were already moving, grabbing one of the arms of Translucent. What was the point in arguing? All the reports you had read the past few days flashed into your head. There was no winning here; you had to get rid of the body. No way in hell were you going to let whatever the fuck happened here ruin Hughies or your life. “So unless you want to explain why you’ve got America’s favorite invisible wanker dead on the floor, give us a fucking hand, will ya?” The guy crouched down again. It was the first time he had spared you a glance. It was quick, but you could feel the intensity behind it, the scan up and down your body before returning to the issue. You had met his slightly crazed stare head-on, not one to back down even if you wanted to. And by God did you want to, you wanted to grab Hughie and run but in no way was that going to happen. You could see Hughie panicking, his breath coming out in short puffs, his eyes wide. You wanted to do nothing more than help him calm down but this was taking too much time. You looked at him, willing him to look you in the eyes to convey just how urgent this was but before he met your eyes he snapped out of it. “Aw, shit!” Hugh grabbed the other arm and all of us started dragging the guy towards the car.

The Brit was not just tall, you noted but also fucking strong, while he was lifting the guy off the ground Hughie and you were barely strong enough to hold him up for a few seconds before he was dragging on the floor again. 

Once we got to the car, the Brit apparently had enough, and realized this was taking too long. He pushed you and Hughie off to the side. “Get the legs, would ya lad?” With one strong lift he had Translucent under the arms and up near the trunk. Quickly you and Hughie scrambled to get his legs up. “I need to do more cardio,” you whispered out of breath. The Brit shot you a lopsided smirk before smashing the trunk close. “Ain’t that a shame, but I can lend a hand if ya need it,” he said with a crooked smirk and a shake of his head. You just raised one of your eyebrows to say you think that line works? 

He walked past you, no scratch that, he sauntered passed you towards the driver side of the car. The sirens of the police now impossibly close. Hugh quickly got into the passenger seat while you scrambled into the back middle seat. For now you just let Hughie take the reins on the conversation. You just listened and observed to figure out exactly what was going on and how you could get your cousin and yourself out of it. You kept glancing at the Brit in the driverseat. Watching his jaw muscles flex under his rather nice looking beard. You had to admit you had a thing for men with beards, and you really wanted to reach out and feel it between your fingers. Once in a while he looked in the rearview mirror to check if the cops were following or to glance at you. Everytime you met his gaze head on. You knew the type. The type like him who dominated every room he walked into. The smirk, the sauntering cocky attitude. If you had learned anything about men like that you had to establish dominance from the get go. Show him that you were not some pushover, even if you felt like one on the inside. And truth be told you were freaking out, but putting on a smile when you did not want was one of your strengths. 

You looked from the blood on the side to his face, down towards the barely visible jawline underneath his beard, down to his coat, and up his arms. Your eyes landed on his hands, already forming bruises and covered in blood, holding onto the steering wheel. You expected to see his knuckles white from the strong grip he had but no, it almost felt like he was taking a joy ride. What kind of man was lazily holding the steering wheel after offing a man. 

Oh my god, you just off’d a man. Fuck, it hit you like a ton of bricks. You were in a car with a stranger and your sweetheart cousin. A body in the trunk and driving god knows where. Fuck how many times did you tell Hughie not to go to a second location with someone you don’t know. Yet, here you were doing exactly that. 

Thumb, Thumb. “Oh, thank fuck, he's alive.” Hughie exclaimed, while you froze in shock, still turned toward the trunk. “Yes, yes, he’s alive!. Okay, pull over.” A part of you was relieved the asshole was not dead. At least you did not have to add accessory to murder to your CV but another part of you, a bigger part, realized now that the guy was alive this shit was not over. Before you could voice your concern the Brit interjected. “No, no, no, Hughie, you don’t fucking get it.” But Hughie was having none of it. “Pull the car over.” “This is a fucksight worse. He’s seen our faces.” Hughie just stared at the guy confused and panic once again settling in. “Hughie,” you softly said, while leaning forward. “He is right.” You weren’t really sure what you just agreed to, or how bad it would get but for now the one thing you could do was calm Hughie down. “Oh, my God. No, no, no, no. I can’t do this.” You leaned even further forward in your seat “Hughie.” You tried to grab his arm but he shook you off. “I can’t do this. Let me out.” You tried again “Hughie, you gotta breathe for me okay. Just take a breath.” But to no avail “Let me out. Pull over!” He yelled, or what counted as yelling in Hughies book. You had to admit you agreed, you wished you could just get out of the car and just go. “Hughie,” the Brit strictly said, drawing your attention. You gave him another once over. The Brit was still steadfast, almost calming to look at. His tone made you immediately want to fall in line and go along with whatever he had planned. “You walk away now, and you will never get payback for Robin.” This? This is what this was about? Jesus Fuck! Your first instinct was to throttle Hughie for getting involved with this shit. But on the other hand, you got it. If you had someone you loved taken from you like that. God only knows what you would do probably burn the world down. It seemed like he had finally gotten through Hughie who just sat back and accepted his fate. 

The bearded man's confidence did not waver. “I know a bloke. Top man. He’ll know what to do.” Oh, no. A secondary location and some ‘top bloke’ recommended by some stranger, whose car you were in right now. Yeah, that did not sound sketchy at all… Should have stayed in bed today. 

You had been quite in the back of the car. Only the thumping and cursing from your invisible friend was audible to you. You were driving deeper into a sketchy neighborhood of abandoned and run-down buildings. The longer you drove the more you got nervous. You still had no idea who the guy was. Well besides knowing that he impersonated a fed to get your cousin to do so. You were ready to strangle the guy for getting Hughie involved with this. I mean common, look at him, he was tall and lanky and awkward. Did he look like the criminal type? Definitely not. You should have insisted on moving back into the Campbell house, at least for a while. If you had been here for him then maybe you would not drive to a second location right now. But at least you were here now and if need be, the Brit was the next body in the trunk. You held onto the anger that you felt. Anger was better than the panic. 

Sighing you leaned back into the backseat, your jaw already hurting from the times you had clenched it throughout the evening. The Brit shot you a look through the rearview mirror. Smirking, he adjusted his position to sit up a bit more straight. “Sorry, luv, guess I ain’t got my manners tonight. Being a right down cunt not introducing myself” You raised an eyebrow at him. Unimpressed with whatever this “flirting” he was doing. There was no way you would let a pretty face get in the way of your anger. “The name is Billy, Billy Butcher,” he turned to you for a few seconds. “Billy, really? I think cunt sounds about right.” You retorted in a rather monotone voice. Or the asshole who got my sweet cousin into some murder shit, you thought. You could practically feel his smirk. Hughie had turned to you looking rather guilty. Yeah, you better be, you thought. You shot Hughie a look he knew all too well, and he knew he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. “Ain’t that just a pity, Billy sounds good coming from your mouth.” Rolling your eyes you leaned back into the seat, crossing your legs, trying to make yourself look more like a bitch. “Loads of things sound good coming from my mouth. Like what the fuck is going on!” “Y/N,” Hughie interjected. Your eyes darted to him for a minute, your staple ‘don’t fuck with me right now’ look in your eyes. “Aye, we got ourselves in a bit of trouble, didn’t we, darling?” He was more than amused by you, and it made your hands itch to reach out and smack him. “From where I am sitting I can only see one troublemaker.” “Well, well, well, sweetheart you’re about to meet one more.” Billy had stopped outside some rundown building that looked even more sketchy than the Brit. Oh, we are so fucked, you thought. 

He stepped out of the car, waiting for you and Hughie to get out. You looked at him for a second trying to convey just how pissed and ready to fight you were. Slowly you stepped out of the car, never looking away from him. His smirk intensified, and that small wiggle of his head that he seemed to do was present. You would have thought it endearing if you were not so angry. Not even his broad and tall statue could disway you. You stepped up to him, doing your signature eyebrow raise. You had no intention of backing down first. Hughie just awkwardly stood to the side, watching your staring contest with wide eyes. 

Billy realized you had no intention of backing down and he sure as shit had no time for this. He took a step back and rolled his eyes as he walked towards the building. “Get a shift on. We got shit to do.” With that he disappeared between the heavy steel doors. 

You shot Hughie a look, “We’re gonna have a talk later.” It was not a question, it was a command. 

You followed Billy through the door and already you had a pit in your stomach wondering how much further you would follow Billy. Yet you knew, you’d follow that dark mysterious, and devilishly handsome man through hell and back. 

French rap music sounded throughout the warehouse. You were greeted by a dark-haired woman with the most intense blue eyes you had ever seen. She took a particular interest in Hughie, touching his face. All you could do was watch in bewilderment and wonder if whatever she had she would be willing to share. You vaguely heard Billy call her Cherié and ask for a ‘Frenchie’. 

You were not prepared for what was in front of you. Weapons upon weapons. You subconsciously took a step closer to Hughie. If there was something that scared you it was guns. You hated how easy they were used by people and the loud bang always made you jump. Your roommate and you had made a game out of fireworks or gunshots? Admittedly you had lived in a rough neighborhood but you were only a student. What else was there to afford? 

“Monsieur Charcuter.” So this was Frenchie. If it were not for all the weapons and what not you would think him cute. So this was the top bloke Butcher was talking about. Seems like Frenchie did not think of Butcher as a top bloke. You moved closer to Hughie. “Hughie, I think we should book it,” you whispered to him. He turned to you in shock as if you had slapped him. “What, Hughie? It is not like he could go to the police and say ‘hey some people bailed on us while getting rid of a body.’ Common, what can they do?” You were eyeing the door ready to take off. “No, no, this isn’t -- We can’t do this, Y/N.” You slowly grabbed Hughies arm ready to pull him along with you. “I’ll make an excuse for us to go outside and once we are we run,” you hissed. Pulling out a pack of cigarettes you were ready to step forward and tell them you had to smoke one and talk to your cousin for a second in private. 

“Who is this guy?” Frenchie asked. Great now that their attention shifted to you too, there was no getting away. “Oh, this here is Hughie Campbell. And--,” Butcher waved at you. “A friend.” Yeah, a friend. Jeez the guy did not even care to learn your name. On the upside they had no idea who you were and honestly you preferred it that way. “We’re, uh, working a little job together.” Sure if this is what you want to call it.  Hughie looked as uncomfortable as you felt, but hell would freeze over before you showed any sort of discomfort. You stood, with a straight face, that many of your friends had called a resting bitch face, shoulders back and attention fully on the guys before you. Watching them like a hawk, only glancing at the woman who was clearly on something or just plain crazy. 

“And he’s still alive?” You felt bile rise up in your throat. What was that supposed to mean? Suddenly, flashes of Hughie being tossed around bloody and groaning in pain came to mind. And then silence, him dead on the floor and there was nothing you could do. 

“You and I worked together, and you’re still in one piece,” Butcher retorted. It should have been reassuring but it definitely wasn’t. From what you could tell the french guy was in the business of whatever the hell you and Hughie gotten involved in. Judging by the scars all over Frenchies body a stark contrast to the baby smooth skin Hughie had. Yeah, great, you both will be dead by sundown, you thought. Now you need a cigarette for real. 

The French guy gave in and all of you made your way outside to the car. The fresh air felt good and made you feel more relaxed. You fished a pack of cigarettes out of your coat pocket. Quickly lighting it between your cherry red fingernails, with your pink Hello Kitty lighter. Taking a long drag you felt relief flooded your senses. God this was a disgusting habit but better than reaching for a bottle and getting shitfaced drunk. With your luck, you would end up at the police station telling them everything that happened last night. No alcohol was not an option you had to be in control.

You stood a couple paces away, when Butcher opened the trunk and electrocuted Translucent. This is when Frenchie freaked out. You nodded for Hughie to come to you, if this was going south you wanted him out of the line of fire. Luckily, Butcher is an asshole and managed to get Frenchie into this shit too. 

Frenchie and Butcher walked back inside. “Hughie and Iwill keep an eye on the invisible asshole.” You commented offhandedly, your gaze fixed on no one in particular. You took a drag of your cigarette, releasing the smoke and shooting a glance at an unmoved Butcher. “Well, luv, I don’t think this is a good idea,” You knew he was worried you would let the guy go and take off but you didn’t care for that right now. You needed to talk to Hughie. “Like you said, he’s seen our face.” You threw his own words back into his face. “I think we should--,” You shot Hughie a look to shut him up. It worked, as you knew it would. It was the same look you gave him when he was a child and in trouble. Taking one last drag from your cigarette you stomped it out underneath your boots before stepping up to Butcher. My God, how tall was this guy? You smelled a whiff of engine oil, sweat, and leather. Not a combination you thought would be so pleasant. “Imma, talk to my cousin. But don’t worry luv we will be right in.” Butcher gave you a once over, leaning into you with that signature smirk. “No, need to get your knickers in a twist, aye now, shirty.” Oh, you could see it already you would end up smacking this cocky son of a bitch. But for now, you wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. You continued to stare at him, not wavering at his gaze. However, you could not help but clench your jaw, your muscles slowly tensing up underneath your skin. Of course, the asshole saw this and smirked even more giving you his signature head wiggle. But you were not backing down. Finally, he rolled his eyes, turning around. “If you are not back in five I’ll come get ya myself.” 

Hughie had watched the exchange in awkward silence. He knew you were not going to back down and felt relief when Butcher finally walked back inside with Frenchie. “Okay, look--,” Hughie started. “No,” you simply said. Already you were itching for another cigarette. “I don’t want excuses or some washy explanation. You will tell me everything that happened that let us to a run down warehouse with some fucking gun runner and some british asshole.” Hughie took a deep breath, ruffling his hair before telling you everything. From Voughts offer of 45k to meeting Butcher and planting a bug. You listened closely, growing more and more frustrated and angry at the same time. “Jesus Christ, Hughie a bug? What were you thinking? Why did you not come to me with this?” “What, so you could tell me I can’t do it?” Hughie yelled. “Because I am a loser who can’t even ask his boss for a fucking raise?” You were shocked at his outburst, stepping closer you wanted to sooth the boy in front of you. In some way he was right you did not see him as a man, for you he was the sweet boy who wanted to play superhero with you and cuddled up to you when a scary scene was on screen. “No, Hughie that is not-” But he would not hear any of it. “Because I don’t have the fight. All I am good for is selling some electronics, coming home, sittin on the couch, watching TV, and eating Pizza rolls?” You let him rant on for a while longer, never seeing Hughie like this before. By the end he was out of breath, his chest heaving. You leaned against the wall of the warehouse, racking your brain about something you could say to make things better for him.

“You know what I’ve been doing the past few days?” You asked Hughie, confusion on his face. “I’ve been researching cases of wrongful death lawsuits against Supes.” You pushed yourself off the wall. “Because I was ready to stand with you, not in front of you, but side by side ready to fight for justice for Robin with you.” You stepped up to Hughie. “Because I don’t think you are some loser who can’t do anything. But because I think you are a good man who wants to do the right thing.” You shook your head in disbelief about all the shit he just told you. “But this. This is a fucking mess.” Hughie sighs deeply, “I know, I know, okay? I didn’t know what else to do” You did what you wanted to do since the store, you hugged Hughie. He clung to you. “We are in this now, you realize that, right?” You pulled back, taking Hughies face into your hands. “But we are going to get through this okay? ‘cause we are not fucking losers.” You grabbed Hughies hand, “common we have a shithead to take care of.” With that, you both walked into the building again. 

Once you arrived at the new place you would keep Translucent the boys and you got to work. Carrying box after box with God knows what. But for now you were not going to ask questions and just do as you were told. Once everything was settled in you brought in your captive. Translucent was put into an electrified cage. To say he was unhappy when he woke up was an understatement. He was cussing you out something fierce 

Hughie was leaning on the wall next to the door that led to your captive, while Butcher and Frenchie leaned opposite each other on the table. You had planted yourself up on the counter. Your question of what now had been ignored and the two men were arguing back and forth when Hughie spoke up. “Wait, you're going to kill him?” “Well, we didn’t bring him here for a fucking Happy Meal.” You almost let out a snort at Butcher's sassy remark if the situation was not such a mess. Before the argument could go further you interjected. “What about a diamond drill?” This got the attention of all three men. “What?,” Hughie said. “You said that his skin was tough as diamonds,” you talked directly to Frenchie. “Or more, who really knows,” you added.” You pushed yourself off the countertop and walked to the table where Frenchie and Butcher were located. “If it is as tough as diamonds a diamond drill should do the job.” You could not believe the words that came out of your mouth. I mean you were talking about murdering a man. Frenchie looked at Butcher whose gaze was still on you. Shrugging his shoulder he nodded. “Worth a try, no? But maybe a less medieval weapon would suffice.” With this Frenchie got to work, mixing stuff and overall did things you had no idea about. Instead of probing him more with what he meant you just stepped back jumping onto the counter once more. “I’m gonna see about an old friend,” Butcher said, leaving you and Hughie alone with the French man. You watched Frenchie work in silence. You were glad that Hughie did not try to talk to you, you were absolutely drained. The rollercoaster of emotion catching up with you. You could feel how things started to overwhelm you, your head pounding and the noise grating your nerves. You abruptly left the basement making your way upstairs. You walked through the rows of tables and seats, past the boxes of guns and other supplies before settling down on a bench near the door. You took off your jacket, balling it up and using it as a pillow. You were lying on the bench staring up at the cracked ceiling, your brain completely numb. You finished out your phone before realizing it had died the day before. Looking towards your left you saw an outlet, but you were far too tired to move an inch. You let your arm fall to your side again, ignoring your phone problem. 

Hughie watched you leave the room, his constant frown still on his face. He knew he had fucked up and even more so by dragging you into this mess, even if it was unintentional. Hell, he didn’t even want to be here. He wanted to go after you, to apologize over and over but he knew you needed your alone time. 

You were absolutely drained, closing your eyes trying to breathe evenly. Yet, the unfamiliar space made you tense, you only allowed yourself to close your eyes for a few seconds before the panic of not knowing what was around you kicked in again. God, you thought you were over your hypervigilance, constantly thinking something bad was around the corner. You even managed to sleep with your bedroom door unlocked now. It took years for you to feel safe in your own skin again and now in one night it was all destroyed. You felt like you were right back where you started five years ago. 

Sighing you sat up, your elbows on your knees and your head in your hands. It is true what people say, trauma stays in your body. You sat up straight, taking a deep breath in, holding it for a few seconds, then breathing out. Breathe and repeat. Your hands were sweaty and your limbs felt hollow. It felt like you were twenty again trying to paint on a smile even though all you wanted to do was scream and rage and cry. But that was not acceptable, not according to the way you were raised. All throughout your life you have been taught to smile and behave. As long as you could function you were okay and there was no need to be “a drama queen” as it was so often put whenever you tried to express your feelings.

Getting up you looked over the boxes the boys had brought in, all the different weapons and tools. You reached out, wiping a stain off a drill. Watching as the smudge slowly disappeared. It felt good, getting rid of an imperfection of something that should not be there. Cleaning has become your comfort whenever you feel like your feelings would overwhelm you. And once it was all clean you had your feelings in check and could put on a smile. Playing whatever role people expected of you, the good daughter, the loyal friend, the dutiful student. What role would you have to play now? You wondered. It had taken you years to break out of the need to mask and hide and now you wondered if playing a role was the only thing that would keep you and your cousin alive. Your head was spinning, so you turned searching for your bag, before realizing it was on the ground at Gary’s destroyed shop. Great not you had to somehow find the money to get a new laptop. But mostly you wanted your anti-anxiety pills.

Your head was spinning out of control when the door suddenly opened. Butcher came strutting in, an annoyed look at his face. Quickly you smoothed your expression, trying to appear casual. “I’m guessing whatever you did, didn’t pan out.” You leaned back on a desk behind you, crossing your arms over your chest. “Not to worry, luv.” He squared up in front of you, his broad chest looking even broader when he crossed his own arms in front of it. Daylight was streaming through the hole of the torn paper that covered the windows. The dust became more prominent, and Butcher seemed even bigger with the light illuminating him from the back. “Really? Because from where I am standing worrying is the only thing that I can actually do.” Butcher let out something between a snort and a laugh. He took a step closer to you, almost looming above you. “You know we have not been properly introduced. You know my name is Billy, Billy Butcher and what would yours be, sweetheart.” You clenched your jaw at the nickname. “I don’t know, Billy, sweetheart sounds pretty good to me.” You replied sarcastically. Butcher was clearly amused by you, and as much as you hated it, his cocky ‘everything is funny’ attitude got to you. You did not want him to see that his attitude got on your nerves so you pushed yourself off the desk and walked past him to the stairs leading to Frenchie and Hughie. “But once you get tired of the condescending nicknames, call me Y/N,” you threw him a glance over your shoulder before disappearing down the stairs. Butcher watched you go with a smirk on his face and an appreciative glance down your body. He did not know how to feel about you yet, but at least you were sassy and easy on the eyes. That was always fun.

[crimsonbastard]

Alright, might as well adress the elephant in the room:

- The absolute desecration of Alicent's Character is infuriating. Her straight up surrendering to Rhaneyra and throwing her sons to the wolves?? And betraying her own Father? Alicent HAS her issues with her family but there's no way that she's going to stoop as low as straight up giving them up. And oh, her saying that she was "fond" of Viserys?? Like what?? You mean the man who groomed you?? Put his rot in you and neglected you and your children??? What the actual fuck??? Was this the same woman who attacked Rhaenyra when her son got mutilated?? All of that for what?? Nothing! And what of your Grandson Alicent?? The little boy who was butchered?? Does his death mean nothing??

- Helaena's complete 180. Seriously?? Her guiding Daemon? The man who orchestrated her son's death? I understand Helaena not wanting to fight, and as Queen she has every right to deny Aemond, but her guiding Daemon towards his path?? Seriously?? And since when did her Visions get Lucid enough to pinpoint Aemond's grave?? Atleast Condom and Hiss had the courtesy of Helaena feel something towards her husband when she confronts Aemond about what he did.

- Oh Aemond, literally the only Green who (besides Cole & Daeron) who's fighting for his family. Him trying to force Helaena felt out of character, as, besides his mother it's her he cherishes the most. We see him lash out, that cold calculated mask finally dropping as he starts getting desperate when he lashes out on Sharp Point and it's innocent citizens as well as his sister. He still is that angry boy who lost his eye.

- We've got Rhaenyra openly admitting what Team Black had been denying all along. That for her to ascend, Aegon must be put to the sword.

- Cole finally being vulnerable and showing what's going through that head of his. How he thinks that this war is for nothing, and that whatever ideals he held onto before, have been let go of and that the only thing that keeps him going is Alicent. He knows that chances of him making out of this war are slim but he goes along with it, for her. Him admitting his hypocrisy, and that he has no shame was the cherry on top. A Jaime Parallel.

- Ah yes the Weirwood vision that conveniently removes any daemyra angst later on. Daemon realising how serious the upcoming horrors from beyond the north are, and that Daeneryes cameo is nothing but a cheap attempt by Condom and Hiss, just to:

a) Shoehorn Daenerys to appease Dany Stans

b) Remind the audience of the "divine right" of the Targaryens to rule westeros as only they can "unite" the realm.

c) Completely absolve all the future atrocities comitted by Rhaenyra and Daemon, as it is for the "Greater Good"

d) By doing so, they gave Daemon a convenient excuse to go on his "murder suicide" battle with Aemond other than abandoning his wife for one last girl he groomed, her being Nettles who is cut from the show, so as to not anger the Daemyra stans.

e) It doesn't even matter in the end, as it's Arya who kills the Night King.

- Alyn verbally decimating Corlys for abandoning him and his brother until his legitimate heirs were gone was satisfying to see.

- Aegon wanting to fashion himself as "The Realms Delight" Is interesting. Considering he will go down into the history books as the Rightful King whereas Rhaenyra goes from being "The Realm's Delight" to "Maegor with Teats". Aegon being negatively viewed by the smallfolk this season despite wanting to do good by them (to get their love and approval) whereas Rhaenyra leading innocent people to their deaths (by dragonfire) and watching from atop, and also sending a few "gifts" to the starving smallfolk, she herself being the cause of their starvation, via the blockade. If the writer's don't further fuck up, we might hopefully see the smallfolk shift their perception towards both rulers, with Rhaenyra being finally called "Maegor with Teats" and Aegon being somwhat looked at positively.

- Sunfyre cannot be dead. He's too important. I hope they made Larys mention that just to subvert our expectations.

- We finally get to see Tessarion, and she looks like a recolored Arrax. Hopefully with a bigger budget they'll give her a more fitting look.

[yello-123]

Something I am just beyond obsessed with this Shauna Shipman being a dog that bites (specifically the hand that feeds her), a violent dog, a losing dog, etc, whatever the Tok Tok dog trend is this month. If there’s an unfortunate dog allegory— boom she’s there. Shauna’s just got that dog in her like no one else before her.

That being said, my favorite one to dive into is that she bites that hand that feeds her. Any individual who shows her genuine kindness, care, and affection she both fails and hurts horribly. Off the top of the dome:

Jackie Taylor- Jackie adored Shauna. Just adored her. I mean they shared a lot of history and their relationship was complex and toxic, but Jackie doted on her and more than that depended on Shauna for emotional support, camaraderie, and idk homoerotic tension. When Jackie’s mental health and significance/popularity began to decline in the group she needed Shauna, she needed her best friend and Shauna refused her. Shauna, finally in possession of a role outside of Jackie (more importantly one that outshined Jackie’s) and weighted down by a guilty conscious, grew more and more distant. I mean that’s just to start, not even mentioning how she emotionally butchered (don’t get me started) Jackie in front of the whole team, led directly to her death, ate her, and then lived her life. How Shauna specifically “bit” Jackie’s “hand” just needs to be its own discussion so I’m going to move on.

Jeff— Oooo I’m discussing Jeff in a serious light the Yellowjackets police are going to come get me. He’s a more interesting character than most fans give him credit for— sue me! Jeff, although a cheating lowlife in high school, is a brilliant husband to Shauna. Like I dare you to show me a more loyal and devoted husband. If you do, I owe you whatever you want from Panda Express. Jeff knows everything that Shauna’s done and still does everything he can to give their family the best life he can possibly provide. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but the lengths Jeff goes to are astounding. I mean even on the mundane level, he goes to marriage counseling and puts forth his best effort to keep their marriage afloat. What does Shauna do to repay this care and effort? Cheats on the father of her child repeatedly and pulls him into her life or crime. Essentially it was like “Hey honey, I cheated on you then murdered him! Would it be any trouble to help me do a cover up?”. The man is literally willing to lay his life down for a woman that barely can stand him.

Callie- Speaking of the happy family, Callie may be one of the worst victims of Shauna’s hand-biting propensity purely because she was fucking child. Honestly, I’m surprised Yellowjackets hasn’t leaned into exploring concepts of mother-daughter relationships more because, I mean, look at the audience. That aside, we don’t really see it much until S2, but Callie seems to have inherited Jeff’s unearned devotion and loyalty to Shauna. Shauna straight up tells people that she doesn’t like her child and pulls said child into her life of violent crime, and her 1990s-all-women-wilderness cult shit. In addition to this, Shauna’s worst crime against Callie may just be the genes she passed down to her. Callie, a pretty typical teen, asks Jeff, “Am I like mom?” And soon thereafter we see her shooting a gun at live people. Idk the mommy issues go CRAZY. They also deserve their own discussion post.

Ok, this sat in drafts for like a week so it would no longer be "off the top of my head" if I continued. Other victims of Shauna Shipman's hand-biting habits are Lottie and Adam. Every single individual in this post (esp Lottie, Jackie, and Callie) deserves their own full explanation post and may one day get one.

[valentinetypewriter]

Things I did and didn't like about The Umbrella Academy season 4

warning spoilers under the cut

Things I did like

Confirmation that Ben and Viktor were close as children, it was nice seeing someone in his family treating him nicely

The entire concept of the timeline subway, I do think it's a very interesting concept

Diego and Lila's daughter being named Grace, especially because Diego seemed the closest to their mother

Klaus helping out alison taking care of Claire when she can't

Lila having a new power, because I hated her old power, it just felt very Mary Sue

The references to season 1 episode 1 in the last episode (Reginald's speech and the music)

Klaus being a total germaphobe, I like the over cautious behaviour now that he can die

Small details, like Klaus writing on his hand the word stop where his Tattoo used to be

I also enjoyed the references made to the comics, like the mask that temp agents wear being in Gene and Jean's barn. I think the photo of them saving paris/the Eiffel tower is a reference to the comic where the tower is a mech for Zombie robot Gustave Eiffel

A lot of what happens to Klaus is very similar to that of the comics, like his situation with the drug dealer is what he's doing in the first comic, also now being able to levitate as well.

Things I didn't like

Just fyi a cute little end sequence isn't going to distract anyone from it being bad

The first thing Klaus took from that box was Dave’s dog tags and they just don’t talk about it. Nor mention it at all again

After getting his powers back, luther's body changed again, I don't like this as his body isn't affected by his powers, it was caused by being injected with a serum to save him

Viktor has trouble committing to relationships and this problem is not further elaborated upon. Like what was the point of showing that

Also Ray’s abandonment is never actually discussed, but I guess it's consistent that Alison can't keep a stable relationship. But seriously she betrays her family and let's Reginald kill Luther, just to have this man in her life and she loses him and no one mentions it

Lila and Diego are not content with family life and an unnecessary love triangle is formed between them and Five. I feel like they certainly butchered a lot of the characters in this season

Five out of all people, who constantly risked his own life trying to get back to his family multiple times suddenly ignores and hides a way to get back to them, because now all of a sudden he has a thing for his brother's wife???

In season 2 Diego makes a bracelet in the mental hospital for Lila she ends up wearing it the entire time throughout the season, only losing it when she gets shot. Diego picks it up and keeps it with him, when he finds her again in season 3 he gives it back to her, which she then wears for the rest of the show. But in season 4 suddenly she hates bracelets, trading one her got for her for a fucking vacuum.

Klaus is the only sibling who dies without knowing how the Original Ben (his ben, his best friend) died

It kind of went downhill after episode 5, like there were a few things I disliked but nothing that outright made me hate this season. But the way they managed to massacre 2 good characters that had an enjoyable platonic relationship is astounding

Five spends the last three seasons, trying to save everyone, mostly trying to save his family he spent 60 odd years trying to get back just to become a home wrecker in the end

I don't think Lila and Five had a genuine connection the way Lila and Diego did, I feel like they were just lonely and desperate after 7 years.

Lila despite having laser eyes, suddenly being able to copy powers again in the last episode despite not doing it at all nor showing any sign of being able to do that

ABIGAIL >:[

They never ended up explaining why the fuck Jeniffer was found inside a giant squid, its mentioned quite A bit, and even gets shown multiple times, but there's no reason or meaning for it.

[arthurtaylorlester]

malevolent season 4 was... something, that's for sure

i want to preface this by saying i LOVE malevolent as a show and this is no means an attack on the creator or anything like that, i don't think i'll ever stop listening halfway, no matter how i feel about it. i'm not saying season 4 is all bad either.

it is a deviation for malevolent, though i found it VERY well written up until part 31 (and part 31 is my favourite malevolent episode ever)

s4 started off really strong for me, part 29 set the tone really well, much lighter after s3's emotional lows. the butcher was an interesting enough new villain to put yarson aside for now. part 30 had some charming moments, but the real star of the early season was part 31, a truly incredibly written and directed look into arthur's psychology. it truly gave us everything, from lore to highly comedic moments (to me)(no because why was arthur dreaming of waking up next to a shirtless man who tried to kill him)

parts 32 through 34 i'm not sure about, but i can write them off as awkward mid season points. part 34 was an interesting shift in perspective, but here is where my doubt's about the season's villains started rising

but the oscar & scratch arcs.... guys i'm gonna be honest, i might be oscar's #1 hater

scratch and oscar in this season were functionally useless filler. it's not unusual for arthur and john get sidetracked during their missions, but it usually ends up leading them right where they need to be by the season finale. this felt like a parenthesis that killed any tension created by the butcher.

this season had, quite unnecessarily, 3 antagonists. now this wouldn't be a terrible idea, had they been established before. but no. for some reason it was chosen to leave the only villain we could genuinely be afraid of alone, in favour of introducing not one but two antagonists yet to be established. neither because of this have the adequate fear factor (the butcher is better about this) and both get the most abysmal ends i could've imagines. what do you mean scratch is just gone like that after causing some emotional conflict with his deal. what do you mean the butcher was KOed by the fucking priest with a bedpan? what? that's it? you expect me to be scared or even care about the butcher now?

speaking of the priest. i want to like oscar i really do but. he's a terribly written character. we get to know him while arthur is teaching john intimidation tactics so out of gate our initial impression of him is as someone meek. and then in part 36 after "sorting out" the butcher, oscar just dumps out his trauma point blank to someone he's spoken to a handful of times in the past 3? 4? days.

malevolent in general has a bit of an exposition problem, but it usually works out if it's john expositing because. that's literally all he can do. but when a character with more agency do it, it makes them flat. oscar didn't have to tell us all that, he didn't have a reason. arthur confessing to 7 murders isn't a prompt to make himself vulnerable like that. i did not start caring for him, just because he had a tragic backstory. that's... not how you get someone to care about a character. oscar could be defined as a static character, and while it's not too unusual for a static character to be the focal point of an arc, i don't think it works the way most authors think it does.

also the worms in the farm only happened because of him messing with the stove so like. that's not helping his case.

the completely unnecessary farm arc concluded, we return oscar to the hospital, with arthur caving very quickly to john's demands if he truly cared about oscar so much. and so, a single episode before the finale, we get properly acquainted our main ally for the showdown. a choice definitely, but i feel like this one worked out pretty well considering noel had time to simmer before we got know of his past + he had interesting conflict with john and arthur.

and then there's the big one, the thing that appalls me entirely. leaving larson and yellow, the main villains of the finale COMPLETELY alone until the very end. why? why would you choose to not use them earlier? we spent so much time away from larson, so we weren't really as scared of him as we were at the end of part 28 (i literally was listening to the last 15 minutes of this ep on my toes because i thought he might do something) and we had had no CHANCE to even fear yellow, since we knew nothing of his power?

and what, the butcher is on our side now because noel granted his release? just like that? i know he's a contract killer but arthur insulted him to his face, he can believe they understand each other but did he feel no anger?

the finale did well, considering the context it was given to work with, though i did not understand the point of the memory thing... that didn't go anywhere? because not arthur nor noel actually lost anything. we don't know what the box was for, we only know some guy wrote "the birth of my son" on slip of paper and put it in. arthur assumed it was a memory, when it just as well could've been a literal offering, arthur assumed it would involve losing said memory, and they assumed it was related. initially i thought it would only go through if the ritual took place, which, it didn't. but reading back here is no further clarification on it. hold your angst horses, blindfaith enjoyers

i feel like john physically manifesting, if now an established power of his, was very cheap. unless it was a one-off, or some sort of power up, it just literally took away the main premise of the show. an all-powerful god rendered powerless by being stuck in some guy's mind and being forced to confront the troubles of someone infinitesimal to him. if you let him astral project and save people, then what's the point?

but i do actually think it was a one-off, so we'll see how it goes

simply put, john saving arthur when he jumped in s3 had more impact than this because he did it with a single, human, hand. no magic.

it was pleasant to have kayne and his expected chaos back, jarring as always. john's deal was exactly what we all thought it was going to be, maybe more about himself than arthur, but i don't think anyone can fault him for that.

one things though, and this questions may just be me not remembering, is arthur supposed to know that yellow is a separate entity from john when they realise larson has him in his head? because i remember arthur just assuming that 'yellow' just had all of his memories returned in part 23, and therefore not knowing that he's a separate guy from john.

just in general, i feel like s4 had a LOT of good ideas that weren't given enough room to breathe and therefore weren't written very well that really weighed down my enjoyment of the season. that's not to say there weren't things i liked. the emotional moments hit just as hard, like reconciling with daniel, the comedy was on point (genuinely this season was so funny) and even the most out of pocket thing arthur has ever said, calling john a child, no matter how much discourse it caused, was actually sort of in character for him? i mean arthur is an asshole so like i get why his immediate reaction to his severely emotionally unintelligent friend being possessive is babying him. they're awful people. they deserve each other. it made somewhat sense in retrospect.

all this to say, while i didn't hate s4, i think it had a lot of writing issues, especially when comparing it to the other 3, and it could've been done WAYY better but hey we all have our moments.

i await anxiously intermezzo's public release and the rest of season 5 👀

[hellosweetart]

Hi, so for the Serial Killer Francis Au, I have some ideas (btw I'm not the SK Francis anon, so there could be some inaccuracies in the AU here and there)

About the Milkbread route of the AU, what if: Nacha is a nervous wreck? Of course, she is nice, bubbly, but she also is a ball of crippling anxiety, always scared of messing up everything in her life, from relationship, to work, and to her overall reputation?

As Nacha hung around with Francis, she still noticed something was wrong about him, like how uncaring he was to the world, how sometimes he would drop the most disturbing and morbid statements, but she was just a little bit less decisive. Now at that time, psychology was not a big thing yet, so while her gut was screaming that he's a dangerous man, she still had zero evidence to actually prove that he was and had no reason to distance herself from him. Since Nacha's gut feeling was strong, she even called some of her friends and family members from outside the building to evaluate Francis' behavior. However, all of the people whom Nacha contacted waved off her concerns and some even said that her worries were ridiculous and she might even make a fool of herself if she kept worrying.

So, to not be the jerk, Nacha stayed with Francis. Francis was a smart man, so when he saw Nacha exhibiting her discomfort when he acted "off", he knew to adjust his act. Eventually, Nacha ultimately felt bad for thinking of Francis as one creepy man, (even if her worries is totally valid), and even dated and had Ana with him.

And fast forward till Nacha killed someone and was too scared to do anything that she called Francis and confessed everything. Francis of course was over the moon in a twisted way and helped Nacha with the corpse, pretty much by butchering it so it looks like a doppelgänger mauled the victim.

At this point, Nacha would realize that her gut was right all along because: no way a normal person would look so excited dissecting a whole corpse, and from the way he worked, so "professional" for lack of better terms that it's definitely not his first time.

She had 2 choices: 1, say nothing and live with this cursed knowledge that her husband was a monster in the form of a human while pretend that everything were fine; or 2, confront him about his ways and behaviors, but get blackmailed back because he knew she killed someone. It was not like she had a video recording of Francis casually dissecting a corpse and like I said before, all of Francis' behavior can be chalked up to jokes and stuff, which means that she can't get him arrested, due to lack of proof.

Francis can now force Nacha help him around with his kills, something like a twisted bonding time between the couple. He makes the kills, she helps with the disposing, both of them get bloody together and sometimes she even kill under his threats too. She now can out him for being a murderer, but she would also end up in jail for being his accomplice.

In other words, her cowardice and lack of trust in her own judgement doomed her.

Then come another character: Izaack Gauss. He's the nosy reporter type, whom, like Nacha, notice something off about Francis, but has no proof to accuse him of anything. He's been trying to befriend Nacha for ages to get her to spill something interesting to him about her husband, but she had nothing to say to him... until now. This time, she can rat Francis out to Izaack, and can actually get away scott free since Izaack would be covering for her. But would she actually do it? Or would she be too broken and too drowned in her own regrets to do anything? Or maybe... she may even kill Izaack, in her shattered mental state?

Also, since I also see Francis with Angus and William being friends with dubious morality, I think it'd be somewhat funny if Angus explains his friend group to a random lackey of his like this:

"Ah yes, me, the nerd who created the doppelganger catastrophe, and a dude with superb killing and torturing skills plus his wife who makes good food but looks a bit too traumatized lately, meh, at least she's not ratting any of us out."

This is a great headcanon. Though if SK Francis actively killed someone and need to dispose of the body, he would rather just do it by himself than ask assistance from Nacha. I believe he would prefer to fix his own mess because, in his own standards, he would be a "bad husband" to ask for his wife's help. And if Nacha fell into the same mess (like what she did to the workmate bastard who sexually harassed her), SK Francis would be more than willing to help her.

Speaking of Nacha's trouble, here is my sketch:

Ana peeks out and yeah...something is off with her father.

Also, another thing about my HC for Angus is that on this universe, he doesn't often smile. I think its because of trauma he had endured of owning a shady business and then came along with SK Francis where he has developed a strange close relationship. He can't tell if its amazement, fear, amusement or infatuation...

[sehtoast]

I know i’m in minority here but i dont get the hype around Soldier boy? Like at all? This fandom idolizes him so much, they even think he will be a better father figure for Ryan than Homelander and i’m like?? He is literally as bad morally as Homelander what makes them think he will be a good father figure for Ryan? He literally tried to kill him in s3. Yet people defend his character all the time and even think he should be the one to kill Homelander.

Even as a character i dont think he’s as well written or interesting as Homelander or Butcher i just dont understand why people are so obsessed with him.

i haven't seen anyone saying he'd be a good father to ryan (yet), but i agree with you! he hit that kid HARD and was fully ready to kill him to get to homelander in s3. he probably would've if butcher didn't step in and tip the scales

the jensen ackles effect is HEAVY here lol. people love the guy all around, so a lot of that love was probably present for people who got super invested in his character from the start. we tend to view our faves through rose colored glasses. i know i do for homelander. but that might be a heavy influence on why people think he'd be grandpa of the year to ryan

i'm not sure who's going to end up killing homie (😭 hopefully NO ONE), but i do strongly believe it'll be ryan regardless of whether or not soldier boy is around.

personally, i see soldier boy as more of a cameo role for kripke to keep making spn references. which is fine! and i feel like they brought him back because he was a fan favorite for the most part, and i can relate because i thought the guy was hilariously awful. i mean, i simp for homelander, so i can't judge soldier boy simps who want to defend him, but i definitely get why people wanted him back. my man smoked a halothane grenade. i'm not on the hype train for him, but still. dude's colllllld

i hope, if they do bring him back as a regular, we get more character development from him. that might be hard with 5 being the last season, but i wouldn't be averse to it personally

[shunnedmorlock]

Hi! What are your opinions on each of the greens ?

Have a good day/night!

Otto: I think he gets a bad rap, not in absolute terms but relatively to the people like Viserys and Daemon. If you hate Otto for pushing Alicent to marry Viserys, you should hate Viserys much, much more. Otto is "merely" complicit in what happened. There was no one Vissy could've said no to more effectively than Otto. It just goes to a double standard you see a lot with these farcical black-green debates where people change their opinions on whether it's ok to judge people by in-universe standards depending on what "team" they're a part of. He has a habit of telling unfortunate truths that get him in trouble, but most of the things he says are just, like, objectively true, but people don't want to hear it. Daemon is actually a danger to the realm and his brother, Rhaenyra does actually have to give the scions of great houses a hearing, Daemon did actually groom Rhaenyra to claim the throne, Alicent's children do pose an inherent threat to Rhaenyra by their mere existence.

From a Doylist perspective, like many other things, I think episode 9 really butchered Otto's character. All of a sudden the guy who has been working hand in hand with his daughter for the past few episodes didn't tell her about the plot to seat her son on the throne??? And now the guy who got fired by Aegon for being too slow and measured in his war planning is pushing to kill Rhaenyra immediately? And he wants to send the Kingsguard to do clandestine assassin work? And he's reluctant to ban child fighting pits for like no reason? I'm sorry, you don't have to be a feminist to not like that!

Alicent: I have talked about her at length. Nixonian Queen. I kneel. The war will make her worse, and I enjoy it. One of the characters I think on-balance the show improved.

Criston: Not a good guy by any means, but dismissing him as just a resentful incel is just boring. It's very clear he was, at best, conflicted about his tryst with Rhaenyra to begin with - he liked her, they had a lot of chemistry, but he does genuinely believe in his vows. The marriage thing is obviously silly and naive, but from his perspective it's him trying to do right by her (and also preserve himself and his soul), which puts him a step above many other Westerosi men who canonically often feel no obligations to the women they sleep with outside of marriage or the children created. There is a real difference in values between him and Rhaenyra that goes beyond him hating women, even if his values aren't strictly speaking good. I'm sorry, but the fact that a Westerosi man is as sexually repressed as an average Westerosi woman is genuinely a point in his favor! I sincerely hope he and Alicent make each other worse. Substantially improved by the show.

Aegon: This is going to be controversial, but baffling/over-the-top/ill-thought-out decisions like Dyana and the child fighting pits aside, I much prefer this version of Aegon to F&B. I don't care that he's kind of pathetic, that's fun, that's drama, that gives room for character development and growth into the king he ends up becoming. It's clear the writers do want Aegon to be kind of sympathetic, but it seems they didn't consider what stuff like Dyana would do to that, which to me indicates they meant the focus of that scene to be Alicent and her behavior, not Aegon. Which is stupid. One of the worse victims of inconsistent characterization, switching between vaguely sympathetic drunken frat bro to outright sex criminal every episode, or even in the same episode.

Helaena: I like what they've done with her. It's more interesting for her to be a doomed neurodivergent prophetess than just a little dumb, even though she hasn't done a ton so far. Similarly, in an RP I was a part of, Jaehaera was depicted as not simple, just autistic and it was much more interesting.

Aemond: BORING! Don't care about this guy, sorry. Maybe I'll like him more when he is pathetically down-bad for Alys Rivers, but right now he's just like budget Daemon to me, who I also find boring. He was more interesting as a bullied teen.

Larys: He's a tough guy to adapt because his motivations are kind of nonsensical behind a vague idea of getting back at Rhaenyra (?) for dishonoring his brother (??) by putting his children in line for the throne (???). The foot thing is kind of gross and I do wish they'd have given him an actual motivation but whatever. The actor's good and I do like him and Alicent on balance. Improved by the adaptation.

Tyland: We love our little bureaucrat don't we folks? Hope he gets more screen time later on.

Jasper Wylde: FUCK YOU SHOWRUNNERS WHY IS THE GUY WHO HAS HAD ONE LINE THIS ENTIRE SEASON PART OF THE COUP BUT NOT ALICENT FUCKING HIGHTOWER??????

[rinski]

SH2R Review

I don't usually do this, but we live in extraordinary times and I have Opinions.

So here is my review of the new Silent Hill 2 Remake. (tl;dr: when it's not bad it's... good? kinda?)

If you go into this game holding up the original and looking for all the ways the remake falls short, like that Bobvids reaction video, you will have no shortage of material to work with. The remake is inconsistent and I legitimately do not understand what they were attempting to achieve with some of the changes they made. This game is incredibly easy to make into something profoundly disappointing if that’s what you want to do. Like Bobvids points out, almost all of the most iconic or emotionally-powerful scenes from the original were fumbled. Not like “they tried to do something different and it didn’t quite work,” no no, no: They were fumbled. They dropped the ball and it shattered like glass upon impact. It's ironic: The game has what it calls "Glimpses of the Past," which are little shrines to iconic scenes and objects from the original game, with their own bespoke camera angle and a little jingle, but then they somehow manage to fail at preserving the scenes people care about most.

If you're reading this, we have both probably been passionate about this game and franchise for a huge chunk (if not the majority) of our lives on this dumb planet, and seeing someone botch something we’ve managed to hold precious for so long can be very painful to watch. 

But there’s also a lot to legitimately like about this game that using that lens will obfuscate. And I’m generally of the mind that we should try to scavenge for whatever joy we can find, wherever and whenever we can, because the world fucking sucks in general. And besides, it’s not like we haven’t had to endure other SH games over the years that ran the gamut from “aggressively mid” to “well at least it’s funny in a bad b-movie kinda way.” I think the best way to enjoy this game is to go in with the assumption that basically everything you care deeply about is going to be butchered in some way, so that you won't be hyper-focusing on those mistakes when the game actually manages to do something good. By all means jeer and throw popcorn at the screen whenever they mess something up—that's a lot of fun too!—but don't let the bad completely shadow the good, especially if it's only bumming you out.

To be clear: I'm not arguing that anyone should buy the game. Other people already have, and their playthroughs are free to watch.

The game is overly long, which leads to some pacing problems. They fill up some of the extra space with places and story beats that feel on point, but a lot of it is filler with only the faintest, somewhat-sour Silent Hill flavor. They do some interesting new things with the combat and enemy AI, but that also gets old quickly because combat is more mandatory, more frequent, and there's only like 3 different enemies in total.

The characters are all different enough that I think comparing them to the originals is just going to make everyone sad. I do not love most of the new takes on the characters. But I also do not hate most of them. At times, they’re even surprisingly good. 

I like the new James most of the time. He's different, sure, but he feels more like a pathetic worm man hiding behind a facade that he's only barely able to maintain. His voice cracks with exertion and desperation as he kicks downed enemies, and after he hears a spooky noise he asks a wavering, "hello?" There are times where his facial acting is incredibly well done and there are times where he basically doesn't react at all, like his "k bye" exit from Angela's final scene that's worse than if they'd just teleported you to the next room with no transition.

The first two Eddie encounters made me roll my eyes, because he feels like a caricature of the original. They made him look and act a lot grosser in the remake, like they imported the original into a character creator and pushed all the middle sliders to one extreme or another. But despite nothing about his design or initial characterization saying “this was made by someone who appreciates subtlety and nuance” he still managed to have some legitimately subtle and nuanced character moments that are their own thing, separate from the original version. When James asks him, "You're gonna go out there alone?" and he gives that slight smile and a distant, barely audible "yeh"? That's good shit.

I think my hottest take is that the new Angela is Good, Actually. I love the original Angela. I think she was perfect. This is not her. Trying to draw any comparisons between the two is a shortcut to feeling depressed and disappointed. There are several interactions with her that actually hewed too close to the original version, which didn’t work *specifically* due to these changes. And her finale is nowhere near as good. Despite all that, I like the new take. She stands on her own as a different (but obviously similar) character. I like her new VA, I like her new scenes, and the new Abstract Daddy boss fight is, I think, the absolute highest point the remake manages to hit. 

Maria is the one character where I legitimately don’t understand what they were going for. Even putting the original aside and letting the new Maria be her own thing… what… *is* that thing, exactly? To start, she’s barely in the game at all—she's absent during many of the scenes she was present for in the original. When she does interact with James, she’s so inconsistent that I can’t get a sense of what they intended her character to be. Hot, cold, charming, socially awkward—in any case it definitely doesn’t seem like they intended her to be “the Mary James fantasized about,” so then… what *is* she? James and new Maria’s overall vibe is “people who only barely tolerate each other because they have a shared friend group." In fact, one of the better interactions between Maria and James is the lead ring scene, where instead of being flirtatious, James dejectedly accepts the ring with a flat, “Oh… thanks...” like she just spat in his hand. So ok fine, they don't like each other this time around. But in the finale she still claims to be able to provide James with everything Mary couldn't, which... no? I don't get what she's attempting to provide, but whatever it is, James certainly doesn't seem into it.

Overall, the environments and music were amazing and on-point, but there were also times where neither was true. The non-otherworld hospital in particular struck me as generic to the point where I’d believe it was made from asset store prefabs. And the newer version of Promise (Reprise) that plays after the video tape is… weirdly up-tempo? Like, to the point where it undermines the tone of the scene (don't worry, it wasn't great anyway). 

Look: being a SH fan has been tough for *multiple decades* now. And I have no love for Bloober Team. They most certainly did not stick the landing here, and even if they did, I would be reluctant to give them credit for it.

I understand feeling passionate about the original. *I* feel passionate about the original. I understand how someone could experience this remake while hating every second of it. I believe I understand how Bobvids feels too, because he’s objectively correct: The remake does not treat any of your most precious memories with care.

And that’s why I wanted to write this. Because it’s very easy to view this game through a lens where it sucks shit, is disappointing, ruins your enjoyment of the original, and spells doom for the future. This game provides a scenic vista full of eye-catching trash fires where all the famous landmarks should be. But if you choose to look elsewhere, away from all the hot garbage, there’s a lot to see that’s perfectly fine or even beautiful. And it makes me sad to imagine all that going ignored because the trash fires burn too brightly.

And also: trash fires can be fun too, right? When they're not bumming you out, at least. Given the choice between "mid" and "trash fire," I'd choose the latter every time.

Silent Hill 2 came out in 2001. Since then we’ve had SH3 in 2003, SH4 in 2004, Origins in 2007, Homecoming in 2008, Shattered Memories in 2009, Downpour in 2012, PT in 2014, and, most recently, Short Message and Ascension. 

We have been scrounging for food and sustaining ourselves on dumpster crumbs for a very, very long time. So let’s not throw away this opportunity to eat a bite or two just because the chef is a piece of shit and the food is partially spoiled: A lot of what’s on offer is perfectly edible. It’s not the best food, no, but we're already used to picking through garbage for a few savory morsels. And within that context, SH2R is a smorgasbord for anyone willing to eat around the moldy bits. 

I recommend we eat what we can, while we can, because we're not likely to get a better meal any time soon.